Charlie!
by Joey Potter
Summary: This is the story for all you Charlie-lovers out there. The story you've been waiting for - about Charlie, when he was at Hogwarts. If you like it, please review and I'll love you forever. (Chapter 9 is up! It's Christmas!)
1. Prologue

A/N: A few days ago, I watched a commercial for Disney's The Lion King III: Hakuna Matata, and this struck me.  
  
Prologue  
  
THE BEGINNING  
  
"Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything -"  
  
"And yada, yada, yada! Come on, let's read this instead!" Charlie Weasley threw Jackie Larkin a book. It landed on her lap and she put down the book she'd been reading aloud from and picked up the new one.  
  
"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," she read. "But that's book four - why should we start reading that?"  
  
"Because I'm in it, and I can't wait three whole books to be introduced!" Charlie answered, snapping the book from her again and flipping through it to find a place where he was.  
  
"You're mentioned in this one." Jackie picked up the first book again.  
  
"So what? I want to be in there physically - here, start there." He handed Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire back to her, opened on page 49.  
  
"But Charlie, we can't start with book four, it'll just make people confused," she said, looking from the book up at him. He sighed.  
  
"You're right. What we need to do is to go back. To before all of this happened." Charlie leaned forward and hit the book out of Jackie's hands. He caught it before it hit the floor and laid it on top of the other four books on the table.  
  
"Before *any* of this happened!" He swept the books from the table and left them in a pile on the floor.  
  
"Yeah, you're right! We'll tell them our story!" Jackie stood up.  
  
"All right then! Forget about Harry. Let's read another book!" Charlie's face had split in a grin.  
  
"So does that mean we'll go back to the beginning?" asked Jackie.  
  
"No, no, no! That's way too long. In the beginning God created Heaven and Earth, and we weren't in that book either! No, we'll start at our beginning, Jack, and if I'm not mistaken, it was around July in 1980...." 


	2. The Letter

Chapter One  
  
- THE LETTER -  
  
As usual, eleven-year-old Charles F. Weasley woke up early this morning. It was only 5.30 when he woke up his two years older brother, Bill, with whom he shared a room. But as usual, Bill just grumbled and turned his back to Charlie. And as usual, Charlie jumped up in Bill's bed, just to annoy him. And as usual, Bill woke up, yelled at Charlie, pushed him back down and went back to sleep.  
  
Charlie walked downstairs. No, he didn't walk, he thundered. It didn't wake anyone up, though. All the Burrow residents were used to noise, din, roar and clatter. After all, they were seven children. Although Bill had been gone at Hogwarts almost the whole last year, but now he was home for the summer holidays. And right now, he was asleep.  
  
Charlie went outside and got his broom. He could fly around a bit before his family woke up. Actually, his mum wasn't so pleased with him - or any of her children for that matter - being outside alone. Because of an evil wizard named You-Know-Who. Well, of course his name wasn't You-Know-Who, but no one dared say his name, even though everyone knew it almost too well. Even Charlie knew it: Lord Voldemort. But except for his name, Charlie didn't know especially much about him. He had heard some of the grown-ups talk about that You-Know-Who killed for fun, but he wasn't meant to hear that, and usually, his parents wouldn't let any of their children listen while they talked to other grown-ups about You-Know-Who. You-Know- Who was evil and dangerous, that'd be enough for them to know.  
  
But she couldn't keep Charlie inside. He was that kind of boy who almost starts to climb the walls if he was inside too long.  
  
He could just fly a bit in the backyard, it couldn't be so dangerous, he thought, as he sat on his broom and rose in the air. When he reached the window on second floor, a little, redheaded boy opened it.  
  
"Hi Charlie! Can I please get a ride? Please?" the little boy said, looking pleadingly at Charlie with big, brown eyes. Charlie grinned at him.  
  
"Sure, Erec, just get on!" he said and lifted his little brother out of the window and placed him in front of himself on the broom. The little boy laughed heartily as they rose into the air. Erec loved heights. Though he was only six years old, he was the Weasley champion in climbing trees.  
  
"Isn't Percy awake yet?" Charlie demanded.  
  
"No, he's just sleeping and sleeping and sleeping", Erec said. "But we've planned to go out and explore the wood today", he continued.  
  
"The wood? You're so not allowed to!" said Charlie.  
  
"We know that, but you won't tell Mum anything, will you?"  
  
Charlie grinned. "Not in a million years! But if you want me to go with you, I will".  
  
"We do, we do! Will you really go with us?" Erec turned his head to look at his all-time-mighty-above-all-else-admired brother.  
  
"Of course I will". Just then, the window on second floor was pushed open again, and Percy's head poked out.  
  
"Erec! Come inside! There's something I have to show you!" he shouted. Charlie flew Erec to his window and helped him inside.  
  
"Charlie can't see it! It's a secret!" Percy said sternly.  
  
"Okay, Perce, I'll go", said Charlie and turned his broom away from the window, smiling to himself. What secrets could two kids their age possibly have? But if it was that important for Erec and Percy to keep whatever-it- was to themselves, it was okay with him. Percy and Erec were funny. Always getting into trouble. They were...... 'Just like me and Bill, when we were younger', Charlie thought. Not that he didn't got in trouble now, but Bill had spent the last two years at Hogwarts and had only been home for Christmas, and Charlie had in fact been a bit lonely. Erec and Percy and the twins were okay, but the twins were two years old, Percy four and Erec six, so. and of course, there was Ron, but he was only four months, and wasn't much fun.  
  
****  
  
When the rest of the Weasley family woke up, Mrs. Weasley started to cook breakfast, and no one missed Charlie before breakfast was ready and his chair was empty.  
  
"He's outside", Erec said, "He took me for a flight earlier".  
  
"He knows he's not allowed to go outside without anyone knowing", said Mrs. Weasley. "And you're not either, Erec!" she added, looking sternly at the boy, who bent his head.  
  
"I'll go and find him", Erec said.  
  
"I'll go with you!" Percy jumped up from his chair and both boys went outside.  
  
A couple of minutes later, they returned. "We've found him, he's on the roof", Percy told his family.  
  
"What?" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed.  
  
"He said: He's on the roof", Erec repeated his brother.  
  
"What's he doing up there?" Mr. Weasley said.  
  
Erec shrugged. "I dunno". He didn't have to say more. His parents were already outside.  
  
"Charlie! What're you doing up there?!" Mr. Weasley bellowed.  
  
"Nothing!" Charlie yelled back.  
  
"Stop that right now and come down here before your mum gets worried!"  
  
Charlie sighed. "Alright". He stepped forward to get his broom, but he tripped and fell off the roof! Mrs. Weasley screamed, but Mr. Weasley didn't hesitate a second and caught his son seconds before he hit the ground.  
  
"Hi Dad", Charlie grinned, but Mrs. Weasley snapped him from her husband and kissed, hugged and scolded at one time. At eleven, Charlie was a pretty heavy boy, so how Mrs Weasley managed to lift him that easily was a mystery.  
  
"Mum, put me down! I'm okay, nothing happened!" Charlie told his mum. And finally, she put him down, but she didn't let go off his hand before they were inside the Burrow.  
  
"What happened out there?" asked Bill as Charlie sat down and started to eat his breakfast.  
  
"Nothing. I just fell off the roof", Charlie explained.  
  
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Bill asked a slice of bread.  
  
"Billy, you're not supposed to speak to your food. You're supposed to eat it!" Charlie said, snatched the bread from Bill's plate and crammed it in his mouth before Bill got a chance to protest.  
  
"Why do you always have to eat my food?" Bill complained.  
  
"'Cause u dun do it urseff", Charlie answered, spitting little pieces of bread all over his big brother.  
  
"Stop spitting food at me! And I would eat it myself if *someone* didn't always steal it from me just because he's a glutton without any manners!" Bill said, angry.  
  
"Sounds like me", Charlie said, thoughtful.  
  
Bill was about to say something, but was interrupted by an owl that flew in, carrying two letters. Mr. Weasley took them.  
  
"Oh", he said, "they're from Hogwarts. One for William". He handed Bill a letter.  
  
"And one for me!" Charlie shouted before his dad could say anything. Mr. Weasley smiled.  
  
"Yes, Charlie, one for you". He handed Charlie the letter.  
  
"Yes! I knew it!" Charlie yelled and opened his letter.  
  
"Read it aloud!" Percy asked.  
  
"Yeah, alright". Charlie read the letter: "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore...... and then there's some gibberish I can't read, but then it says:  
  
Dear Mr. Weasley,  
  
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find en...... enclosed a list of all ne...... nece...... ne-ces-sa-ry books and e...... equi...... e-quip-ment. Term begins on 1. September. We await your owl by no later than 31. July.  
  
Yours sincerely,  
  
Mi-ner-va Mc.... Mc....... Mc-Go-na-gall  
  
Dep...... deputy Head...... head..... mistress".  
  
"Fantastic reading!" said Bill sarcastically.  
  
"Shut your face!" Charlie said angrily. He just couldn't stand when someone teased him with his reading problems. It wasn't because he was stupid. It was just that he had way too much energy to just sit still and read.  
  
"When are we going to Diagon Alley?" he asked.  
  
"We could go tomorrow", Mrs. Weasley answered with a look at her husband.  
  
"Fine with me", Mr. Weasley said, shrugging.  
  
They had just finished their breakfast, when someone knocked on the door, and a few seconds later, a voice echoed through the house.  
  
"Hello? Is anybody home?"  
  
It was Evan Mullins, Bill's best friend. The Mullins were the only other wizard family in Ottery St. Catchpole with children Bill and Charlie's age.  
  
"Hi Evan", Bill answered his friend. Then he noticed a girl standing behind Evan. A girl with yellow curls.  
  
"And hi Annie", he added, smiling.  
  
"Evan and I got our Hogwarts letters today", Annie chirped up with a perfect, pink mouth.  
  
"Stop! Wait a sec - did you just say Hogwarts letter?" Charlie said, looking almost horrified at Annie.  
  
"Yes, do you have a problem with that? Or maybe you haven't got yours yet?" Annie said sharply.  
  
"Of course I have! What I meant was that I really don't wanna go to Hogwarts with *you*!" Charlie informed her.  
  
"Is that so? Well, then I have to tell you that I sure don't want to go to Hogwarts with you either!" Annie told him, before turning her head away from him, making her curls bounce up and down.  
  
Bill and Evan rolled their eyes. They were used to this. Charlie and Annie hated each other, that was a fact for everyone to know. Bill, Evan and all Annie and Charlie's friends in the small school in the village. No one really knew why they hated each other so much - probably not even themselves - but they did. Charlie thought Annie was a preppy little Miss Perfect, and she thought him childish and just plain stupid. Nevertheless, Annie kept coming to The Burrow with Evan, only to see Bill, because she had a secret crush on him. All right, how secret it was there might be different opinions on, considering that Bill himself knew.  
  
"Hello Evan, Annie", said Mrs Weasley, who now came out to the children. "Listen, we're going to Diagon Alley tomorrow. Would you like to come?"  
  
"Yes, we'd love to. It might be fun", Annie said, her blue eyes shooting daggers at Charlie.  
  
"But we'd better ask our mum and dad first", Evan said.  
  
"I'll help you with that", said Mr Weasley, and the three of them went into the kitchen to call Mr Mullins in the fire.  
  
"Mum, have you gone barking mad? I don't wanna spend a whole day in Diagon alley with Annie!" Charlie said, turning to his mother.  
  
"Charlie! Annie is a very nice girl, and I'm sure you could learn a lot from her if you didn't were so determined to hate her", Mrs Weasley told him.  
  
"Yeah, right".  
  
It didn't take longer than a few minutes before Evan and Annie were back, saying they were allowed to go. And if that wasn't bad enough, they stayed at The Burrow all day long, which was why Charlie spent most of the day in the woods with Erec and Percy.  
  
However, even the longest day gets an end, and that night, when Charlie lay in his bed in his and Bill's room, he couldn't sleep, so instead, he started asking Bill questions about Hogwarts.  
  
"Billy? Is the headmaster very strict?" was his 13. question.  
  
"No. Dumbledore's cool enough. But if he gets angry, he gets *really* angry!" Bill answered.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean, that if you're bad, he turns you into...." Bill thought for a second about what would scare Charlie the most. ".... a bar of soap!" he then said.  
  
That worked. Charlie got scared.  
  
"Nah. You're just trying to scare me", he said after a moment.  
  
"Maybe I am. Maybe I'm not", Bill said. "Good night".  
  
End of Chapter One. 


	3. Diagon Alley

Chapter Two  
  
- DIAGON ALLEY -  
  
The next morning, Charlie woke up *earlier* than usual. Already at 5.00 am he woke up his poor parents.  
  
"Oh Charlie dear, go back to sleep. We don't have to get up this early", Mrs Weasley tried.  
  
"But I can't sleep anymore. And I'm hungry", Charlie said. Mr and Mrs Weasley both knew that it would be a good idea to make him some breakfast before he tried to make some himself. He had done that once. It had resulted in destroyed food and destroyed clothes, not to mention destroyed kitchen.  
  
A couple of hours later - at 8.00 - Charlie couldn't wait just one more second. He insisted that they went to Diagon alley straight ahead.  
  
"But Charlie, we have to wait for Evan and Annie", Mrs Weasley tried.  
  
"Not anymore", said a voice. The Mullins children had arrived, and finally, Mrs Weasley gave in and took the four of them to Diagon Alley, leaving her husband at home with Ron, Percy, Erec and the twins. First, they went to Gringotts and afterwards, they would buy everything.  
  
"I want my wand first!" Charlie said as soon as they were out of Gringotts, trying to drag his mother to the wand shop.  
  
"But don't you think we should wait with that until last?" Mrs Weasley asked.  
  
"No! I want my wand first!" Charlie shouted, sticking out his lower lip in a try to look sweet and innocent.  
  
"Pathetic", Annie said, sighing and shaking her head slightly.  
  
"Shut up, Babydoll", Charlie said, and then turned to his mum again, doing his hurt-puppy-eyes. Mrs. Weasley sighed.  
  
"Okay", she said, "we'll get you a wand. But remember: You may NOT use it until you get to Hogwarts, okay?" Charlie nodded, and they walked towards Ollivander's.  
  
"Oh", said Mr Ollivander as they stepped into the old shop. "Charles Weasley, yes, I remember you from the time your brother got his wand". Bill looked angrily at Charlie, who blushed a bit.  
  
"Easy, Billy! It wasn't my fault the boxes were piled so untidy. And he cleaned it up in no time, right?" he said.  
  
"Well", said Mr Ollivander, "let's see..... which one is your wand arm?"  
  
"Left!" Charlie answered, forgetting all about Bill as Mr Ollivander pulled a tape measure out of his pocket and started measuring him. Or rather, the tape measure started measuring him. Mr Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes and muttering to himself.  
  
"Ah", he suddenly said, took out a wand and handed it to Charlie. "Here, try this. Twelve inches, ebony and dragon heart-string". Charlie took the wand and waved. Nothing happened.  
  
"No, try this instead". Mr Ollivander snapped the wand and handed Charlie a new one. "Hazel and unicorn hair, ten inches, rather bendy". Charlie took it and felt a warmth in his fingers, like Bill told him he would feel when he found his wand. He waved it, and green and red sparks shot out of the end and almost set Mr Ollivander's robe on fire. But Mr Ollivander clapped in his hands.  
  
"Yes, this is the wand for you, young man!" he said happily, as he put the wand back in its box and wrapped it in brown paper.  
  
"I can't believe we're actually letting him get a wand", Bill said as Annie stepped forward to let Mr Ollivander measure her. "I mean, what are you trying to do, Mum? Burn down the house?"  
  
"He won't touch it before he goes to Hogwarts. Will you dear?" Mrs Weasley said, looking at Charlie.  
  
"I won't. What I can't believe, is that they're letting Billy in at Hogwarts!" Charlie teased.  
  
"Oh, shut up, Charlie! At least I can read - you know, it comes in handy with the school books", Bill shot back.  
  
"Yeah, well, I can do so many other things! Like, I can fly and you can't! Auw!" Charlie exclaimed. Apparently, Annie had found her wand on the very first try and had sent some golden sparks in direction of Charlie's arm. "Hey Babydoll, watch out!" he shouted.  
  
"I didn't do it on purpose! And stop calling me Babydoll!" Annie shot back. Charlie was about to say something, but Mrs Weasley interrupted. "Don't fight, children! Now, come on, we have a lot of shopping to do".  
  
They went to get robes, and then they went to Flourish and Blott's to get books for all of the children.  
  
On the way, Charlie stopped at Quality Quidditch Supplies. "Oh, Mum, can't I get a new broom, please, Mum...." he started.  
  
"No, Charlie! The broom you have is good enough. Besides, you're not allowed to bring a broom to Hogwarts. It says so in the letter", his mum said and dragged him away from the shop.  
  
"You are such a baby, you know that?" Annie said disapprovingly. Charlie yanked his hand out of his mother's grip.  
  
"Well, at least I don't look like a doll!" he answered.  
  
"I look better than you!"  
  
"Since when?"  
  
"Since forever!"  
  
"In your dreams, Babydoll!"  
  
"Would you just bloody shut up?"  
  
"Ha! You cursed! The Babydoll cursed! Nah-nanananah!"  
  
"Boys!" Annie shook her head.  
  
"Girls!" Charlie shot back. In front of them , Bill and Evan looked at each other and rolled their eyes.  
  
"Children!" they said in unison.  
  
"Oh no!" Charlie suddenly whined as he saw where they were heading, "not the bookshop!"  
  
"Charlie, act your age and give me your booklist", said Mrs Weasley impatiently. Charlie handed her the list, while Bill, Evan and Annie looked around by themselves to find their books.  
  
"I'm glad I'm not some kind of baby who has to have his mummy find his books for him", Annie said to Charlie with a smirk. Charlie lunged for her, but his mother (knowing him well) grabbed the back of his shirt.  
  
"Mum! Let me go! I'll just kill her a little bit!" he shouted, wriggling to get out of her grip.  
  
"No", said Mrs Weasley, "Now behave yourself, and help me find your books".  
  
"No, I won't!" Mrs Weasley sighed.  
  
"All right. Then just stay here in the bookshop until we are ready to leave", she said.  
  
Charlie didn't even bother to look around. Boring, boring, boring, he thought. Books, books and more books. And some bookworms like Bill. He took a look at his mum, but she was busy in the far end of the shop. Bill and Evan were chatting quietly by another shelf, so none of them noticed that Charlie went out of the shop and down the alley. He stopped at Knockturn Alley. He wasn't allowed to go in there, but just for once, it could be fun....  
  
"And where do you think you're going?" a cold voice asked. Charlie spun around. Annie. Of course.  
  
"I was thinking of taking a look down Knockturn Alley, if you don't mind", he answered, just as coldly.  
  
"Well, maybe I do mind. You know we're not allowed to go down there, so you better come with me back to the book shop before you get us both into trouble".  
  
"Listen; why don't you go back to the book shop and leave me alone?" Charlie said, anger starting to build up inside him.  
  
"You should rather thank me for not telling your mum when I saw you leaving!" Annie said. "Now come on and let's get back before anyone notices we're gone". She grabbed hold of Charlie's arm.  
  
"Let go of me!" he shouted. She turned to face him, and in that, she dug her nails into his arm.  
  
"Auw! Let go of me, you little bastard!" he shouted, but she just smiled at him.  
  
"Maybe I won't", she said in her sweetest voice.  
  
Suddenly Annie's head was jerked backwards and she shrieked, because someone behind her had grabbed hold of her perfect, yellow curls.  
  
"Hey, Babydoll, let go of him!" a hard voice said, and Annie quickly let go of Charlie's arm.  
  
"Fine", the new voice said, and the hand let go of Annie's hair. Charlie looked at the voice's owner, and his eyes fell on a girl who seemed to be his age, but she was two or three inches taller than him. Her hair was brown and barely reached her chin, while her fringe stood right up in the air, and her eyes..... the right was blue, and the left green.  
  
Annie looked angrily from Charlie to this new girl (how could a girl look like that? She asked herself) and back at Charlie.  
  
"I'm going back to the bookshop", she said, "and I am telling your mum!" With that, she turned around and left. Charlie looked at the girl.  
  
"Who are you?" he asked. Maybe not especially polite, but we're talking about Charlie Weasley here. She bowed at him.  
  
"Jacqueline Larkin at your service, Mister. Mind you, I hate my name. Call me Jackie... or Jack". She grinned.  
  
"Jack, huh? What a name for a girl", he said.  
  
"Oh, I'm not a girl", she said and laid her arm around his shoulder. "I'm a tomboy".  
  
Gotta admit that, Charlie thought. She didn't just have the short hair, she was also dressed in a pair of black jean shorts, and an army green T-shirt.  
  
"So, well, who are you? And who was that goody-goody?" She pointed her thumb in the direction Annie had gone in.  
  
"I'm Charlie. Charlie Weasley. And that was Annie Mullins, my brother's best friend's sister", he explained.  
  
"Annie Mullins, my brother's best friend's sister - you could break your tongue saying that, Charlie", Jackie said. Suddenly Charlie remembered something.  
  
"Jackie..... did you call her Babydoll?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah, she looks like a babydoll, don't you think? Why?"  
  
"Because that's what I use to call her! She hates it, by the way".  
  
"She does? Well, that's her everlasting nickname, then. Anyway..... what was I thinking of? Oh yeah, are you going to Hogwarts too?"  
  
"Yep. I'm getting my Hogwarts stuff. My mum and my brother and my brother's best friend are here too. At Flourish and Blott's", he said.  
  
"All right, I take you're a first year?" He nodded.  
  
"Cool, we're going to be in the same year!" She looked up. "Er.... she, your brother's best friend's sister.... she's kinda back", she said, sounding a bit nervous.  
  
Charlie turned around, just before his mum grabbed him tight by his arm.  
  
"Charles Weasley! What have you been thinking? You can't just run away when we're trying to get your school stuff! You haven't been in Knockturn Alley, have you? I really have to say, it's a wonderful way to start your first school year! I just have to turn my back to you for two seconds, and then -" she was interrupted by a new voice.  
  
"Jackie! There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!" A woman grabbed Jackie's arm.  
  
"I wish you wouldn't run away like that!" she told her.  
  
"I can see I'm not the only one having problems", Mrs Weasley said.  
  
"No, you're not. I never know where my daughter, Jackie here, is. This time, I thought she was right behind me, I turn around, and she's gone! I've been through the whole alley looking for her!" the woman, who must be Jackie's mum, said.  
  
"Yes, and I was in the book shop, I turned my back to Charlie for two seconds, and gone he was. I'm Molly Weasley, by the way".  
  
"Jane Larkin", Jackie's mum said.  
  
"That's Jackie, Mum, she's starting at Hogwarts this year, too", Charlie told his mother. Mrs Weasley said hello to Jackie, then turned to Mrs Larkin.  
  
"And this is my sons Bill and Charlie, and their friends, Evan and Annie", she said.  
  
"Friends? I'm not sure that's what I would call it", Jackie whispered to Charlie, and he sent her a small smile. It was obvious that their mothers liked each other. And they did, so when they had finished their shopping, they all ended up at Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour.  
  
And for Charlie and Jackie, it was more than just ice-cream. It was the start of a long, deep, mischievously friendship.  
  
End of Chapter Two. 


	4. The Journey To Hogwarts

A/N: let me start by saying that I have nothing against Ravenclaws, Slytherins or Hufflepuffs - in fact, I'm a Ravenclaw myself - but Charlie is Charlie.....  
  
Now, to my reviewers: Alex (Frådende Firben) You know I love you, girl! The drawing was fabulous! (As if I haven't told you already) Again: Thank you so much. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!  
  
Hermione 'DB' Granger...... Charlie said I should tell you that you, if you really hate Annie, is a very clever girl. And no, Bill doesn't return her feelings. Not yet, anyway :) And no, Charlie isn't going to be bullied - heck, Charlie's the one bullying people :) Ah, not really, but again, he's Charlie....  
  
Chapter Three  
  
THE JOURNEY TO HOGWARTS  
  
At September the first, the Weasley family were as usual late.  
  
"Bill! Are you coming?" Mrs Weasley hollered.  
  
"I can't find my wand!" Bill yelled back.  
  
"Charlie!" said Mrs Weasley firmly.  
  
"What?" Charlie asked innocently.  
  
"Give Bill his wand back now, or we'll be late!"  
  
"I don't have his bloody wand!"  
  
"Accio!" Mrs Weasley shouted, pointing at Charlie with her wand. And from the inside pocket in Charlie's jacket, Bill's wand came flying.  
  
"It was just for fun," Charlie tried. Lucky for him, Mrs Weasley was too busy to scold. She gave Bill his wand, and they hurried to the car.  
  
Riding in a car with the Weasley family would be enough for everyone to run away. Ron cried, the twins fought, Erec kept tickling Percy, who almost screamed of laughter, Charlie did his best to annoy Bill, who yelled at him, Mrs Weasley scolded, and Mr Weasley asked himself what was wrong with being a bachelor.  
  
But finally, they reached King's Cross, only six minutes before the Express would be leaving.  
  
"Okay, now we're busy! Bill, Charlie, do you have all your stuff?" Mr Weasley said.  
  
"Yes, Dad," Bill answered, trying to make Erec stop clinging to his sleeve.  
  
"You can't go, Erec!" he said for the 100. time.  
  
"Bill, please remember to look a bit after Charlie at Hogwarts, will you dear?" said Mrs Weasley.  
  
"Don't you think I have better things to do than babysit?" Bill asked annoyed.  
  
"I am not a baby! And I don't need him to look after me, Mum! I can look after myself!" Charlie said. Bill rolled his eyes.  
  
"Yeah right! All right, Mum, I'll look after him, but I won't promise anything. If he gets expelled in a week, don't blame me," Bill said, lifting up his trunk. Charlie stuck out his tongue at Bill, then turned to his mother.  
  
"We just have to go straight through the wall, right?"  
  
"Shh, dear, the Muggles can hear you. Yes, you have, and hurry up, we only have three minutes. George! Where's George?" No one knew, not even Fred.  
  
"GEORGE!" Mrs Weasley screamed.  
  
"Dad, we only have two minutes!" Bill said.  
  
"Molly, I'll take the other boys with me. You stay here and look for George, okay?" Mr Weasley said. His wife nodded, and he grabbed Fred's hand and hurried through the wall. Only one and a half minute was left, when Charlie and Bill said goodbye to their mum and ran after their dad. They jumped into the train a minute before it left, found a window and waved to their dad and younger brothers. Just as the whistle was heard, Mrs Weasley came running through the wall with George in her arms. They both waved at Bill and Charlie as the train leaved the platform and disappeared.  
  
"Hey, Bill!" Evan's voice sounded.  
  
"Hi Evan!" Bill said. "So, what's new?"  
  
"Not especially much, considering we saw each other yesterday," Evan said.  
  
"Evan?" Charlie interrupted, "Could you please make my day and tell me that Annie got sick and couldn't make it today?"  
  
"No, he can't," a voice behind Charlie said. A voice he knew only too well. Slowly, he turned around to face Annie, mostly because he didn't trust her enough to have her standing behind his back.  
  
"Is something wrong? Or is it just because that little girlfriend of yours isn't here to save you?" she said.  
  
"Oh, but she is," said Jackie's voice as she came walking towards them with a birdcage in her right hand. "Hi, Babydoll, it's nice to see you again. How has your summer been?"  
  
"Fine," Annie snapped, before turning around and walking away.  
  
"Since when did you become my girlfriend?" Charlie asked Jackie.  
  
"Since. hm. now," she answered with a grin. "No, I'm just joking. Who in the world would want to be your girlfriend?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Joking, joking."  
  
Jackie was interrupted when a girl with curly brown hair and glasses a little longer down the train tripped over her own feet and fell down on the floor. Quickly, she rose again and ran towards Bill and Evan.  
  
"Bill! Evan! Nice to see you!" she exclaimed.  
  
"Hi Kate," Bill greeted her. "How was your summer?"  
  
"Fantastic! We went to Paris, you can't imagine how interesting it is down there!" she said happily. Then she turned to Charlie.  
  
"And you must be Charlie, Bill's little brother. I'm Kate Gottschalk. Bill's told me so much about you!" She shook his hand.  
  
"Well, hi," Charlie said.  
  
"Bill, you didn't tell me he was cute," Kate said to Bill.  
  
"That's because I really don't think he's cute!" Bill answered, causing Evan to laugh.  
  
"I am not cute!" Charlie informed Kate. He didn't like her especially much.  
  
"All right, you go. I'm not going to have you hanging around all the way to Hogwarts," Bill said.  
  
"Like I'd want to!" Charlie shot back, then he and Jackie went down the train to find a seat.  
  
"Look! My dad got me an owl!" Jackie said, showing Charlie the cage she was carrying. In it was a brown and white owl. "Isn't she beautiful? I call her Jill," Jackie told him.  
  
"You're lucky. I wish I had a pet," Charlie said. "But Errol belongs to the whole family".  
  
"Errol?"  
  
"Our owl," Charlie told her. Then he noticed that Jackie was wearing a red and black cap with the Ballycastle Bats' logo on front.  
  
"Don't tell me you support the Ballycastle Bats," he said.  
  
"Why not? They're cool. They're the second most successful team in the league!" she answered.  
  
"Second! That's it."  
  
"And that's bad? Then let me guess; you support the Montrose Magpies."  
  
"Well, duh."  
  
"But the Bats are so awesome! They're Iris," she added, as if that settled it all. Mind you, she had a very strong Irish accent.  
  
They kept discussing while they went down the train, trying to find an empty compartment. They were all full, except for one in the back of the train, were only one boy sat and looked out the window.  
  
"Hi," Jackie said, "Would you mind if we sat down in here? Everywhere else is full."  
  
"No, not at all," the boy said as he turned around to face them. He had brown hair in a messy bowl cut and warm brown eyes. He smiled at them, and Jackie and Charlie sat down in the compartment, continuing their discussion, until the other boy interrupted with asking who they were.  
  
"I'm Charlie Weasley, and she's Jackie Larkin," Charlie said. "Who're you?"  
  
"I'm Barry Shipley," the boy said. He looked uncomfortable.  
  
"Are you nervous?" Jackie asked.  
  
"More than ever before!" Barry answered. "I come from a Muggle family, and I had no idea I was a wizard until my letter came. I've heard about the houses but I don't have the slightest idea about where I'm gonna be."  
  
"Well, my parents and my big brother were in Gryffindor, so I hope I'll get in there too - ARGH!!!" Charlie yelled and jumped up. A black cat had landed on his shoulder.  
  
"Nukkies! There you are!" Barry exclaimed and grabbed the cat.  
  
"Is that your cat? He's sweet," Jackie said and petted Nukkies.  
  
"He can be a bit wild sometimes. I'm sorry about that, Charlie," Barry said.  
  
"That's okay. I've been through worse. Where were we? Oh yes, houses! What house do you want to be in?" Charlie demanded and sat down besides Jackie.  
  
She shrugged.  
  
"I don't know. Ravenclaw sounds okay to me, not to mention Hufflepuff. But if you're going in Gryffindor, I hope I'm going in there too," she said.  
  
Charlie glared at the other two.  
  
"Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff?" he exclaimed. "You don't know anything about ANY of the houses?"  
  
Barry and Jackie shook their heads.  
  
"Are you nuts, Jackie? Hufflepuff is for the nerds! And Ravenclaw is for the bookworms and all the boring people! And Barry, Slytherin is the worst house of them all! All the evil wizards and witches have been in Slytherin. Trust me; you don't want to go in there!"  
  
"But Charlie, what if you get in Slytherin? Or Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff?" Jackie asked.  
  
"Impossimble," Charlie said.  
  
"Impossible," Jackie corrected.  
  
"Shut up! Billy's always trying to make me say that too. But I keep on saying impossimble. It sounds best to me that way. But anyway, of course I'll get in Gryffindor! If Billy can, then I can too, no doubt," Charlie said proudly, crossing his arms.  
  
"I really hope he'll get in Gryffindor. And if he doesn't, I don't know him," Jackie whispered to Barry, who smiled.  
  
"Well, Exploding Snap, anyone?" Charlie said, looking at the other two.  
  
"What?" Barry asked.  
  
"Do you want to play Exploding Snap?" Jackie said, slowly.  
  
"I don't know how to play," Barry said.  
  
"Doesn't matter, we'll teach you," Charlie said. He handed out the cards, and they started to play.  
  
Barry's cards had just exploded and burned his right hand, when a woman with a trolley looked into the compartment with a smile and asked if they wanted anything from the trolley.  
  
"I do!" Jackie exclaimed and got to her feet. Barry followed her, but Charlie stayed where he was.  
  
"Don't you want anything, Charlie?" Jackie asked, while Barry looked at all the sweets, which he of course never had seen any of before.  
  
"Don't have any money, and I. my mum has made me some sandwiches," Charlie said, without looking at her.  
  
"Don't think about that. Barry and I will share with you. Won't we, Barry- warry?" Jackie turned to Barry, who was trying to choose between Liquorice Wands and Drooble's Best Blowing Gum.  
  
"What? Oh. yes, of course! Help me, one of you; I don't know what to choose! I've never seen such sweets before!" Barry whined.  
  
"Buy some of everything," Jackie advised. "Here. no. here is my money, let's see how much we can get for this." She held up some silver Sickles.  
  
A minute later, the two of them returned to the compartment with all their sweets.  
  
"How much did you buy?" Charlie asked.  
  
"All this, stupid, are you blind? We paid eight Sickles and five Knuts so I hope here's enough".  
  
"YUCK!!" Barry suddenly yelled.  
  
"What?" Jackie asked, her mouth full of Pumpkin Pasty.  
  
"This tastes like vomit!"  
  
"It's the Every Flavour Beans," Charlie said, laughing.  
  
"How was I supposed to know that Every Flavour meant EVERY Flavour?" Barry said, coughing.  
  
"It says so on the bag," Jackie said. Neither she could help laughing at Barry.  
  
"You guys eat those. I'd better stick to the Liquorice Wands," Barry said.  
  
"Wimp." Charlie said. He and Jackie took over the bag of Every Flavour Beans that Barry had started on and started eating them.  
  
"This is worse than vomit, Barry," Charlie said. "Sprouts".  
  
"Uh, disgusting. Mine's strawberry," Jackie said. Charlie took a green one.  
  
"Apple," he said.  
  
"Let me try one," Jackie took a green one too and tasted it. "Bah. Grass."  
  
"Don't you wanna try, Barry?" Charlie said.  
  
"No." "Come on. Just take a bite in the corner," Jackie said. "Here's a red one."  
  
"Jackie, beans don't have corners," Charlie said. But finally, Barry tried it. It turned out to be tomato, which Barry really hated, and afterwards, he didn't even want to look at the beans.  
  
"Jackie, do you collect Chocolate Frog cards?" Charlie asked as she unwrapped one.  
  
"Yes, I do. But I'm missing a lot."  
  
"I have them all except Dumbledore. I had him, until Fred ate it."  
  
"He ate it? He has certainly misunderstood something," Jackie said, shaking her head.  
  
"Oh well, he's only two years old," Charlie said. "No, this one's Agrippa."  
  
"Let me have it then, I'm missing that." Charlie handed it to her. Barry glared at them.  
  
"Explain," he said. Charlie and Jackie explained what they were talking about and showed him one of the cards.  
  
"They're moving!!" Barry said, surprised.  
  
"Yeah, what did you expect? Should they just be standing still all day?" Charlie said, laughing.  
  
"Muggle photos do that, so it's not weird that he's surprised," Jackie said. Charlie glared at her.  
  
"You're joking," he said. Jackie and Barry shook their heads.  
  
"Muggles are very very weird," Charlie said and turned back to his Chocolate Frog.  
  
A couple of hours later, Jackie looked at her wristwatch and said: "We better get our robes on. We'll probably be arriving soon." She and the boys took off their jackets and put on their robes.  
  
Then a voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes time. Please leave your luggage on the train; it will be taken to the school separately."  
  
"Ohh, nervousness, nervousness!" Jackie said and hit Charlie playfully on the shoulder.  
  
"I am nervous," Barry said. "How are we going to find out which house we're going in?"  
  
"I don't know. Fergusson - my brother - refused to tell me anything," Jackie said.  
  
"I know," Charlie said.  
  
"Tell me!" Barry demanded.  
  
"Nope. Just wait and see for yourself," Charlie said. He could see Barry was very nervous, but he didn't tell him anything. Actually, he didn't know it himself. Of course, he had asked Bill several times, but Bill had refused to tell him anything, just like Jackie's brother.  
  
They were out of the train, and stood now on a tiny, dark platform.  
  
"Now what?" Jackie said. "It's cold out here!"  
  
Then a deep voice called: "Firs' years! Firs' years! Over here! Don't be shy!" The voice belonged to a very big man with wild, black hair and beard.  
  
"Who is he?" Barry asked.  
  
"Gotta be Hagrid! The Keeper of the Keys!" Charlie answered, remembering what Bill had told him.  
  
"Anymore firs' years? Okay, follow me!" Hagrid walked towards the lake, were a lot of small boats laid still in the black water. On the other side of the lake were Hogwarts.  
  
"Wauw!" Jackie exclaimed. "That's a bi-ig castle!" Charlie looked at it. He had heard Bill talk about it, but he had never imagined it to be so. so. he didn't know what it was, actually. Fantastic. Fabulous. Great.  
  
"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called and pointed at the boats. It wasn't until then Charlie realised that they had to sail across the lake! He could feel that he went all pale.  
  
"Charlie? Are you alright?" Jackie asked and looked at him with a worried look on her face. How was she supposed to know what was wrong? How was she supposed to know that Charlie probably was the biggest water funk the world had ever seen? As long as he could remember he had been afraid of water. He didn't even know why.  
  
"Are you guys coming?" Barry called from one of the boats. A white-haired boy was in the boat with him. Charlie swallowed a couple of times, but he still couldn't get himself into that boat.  
  
"Get in a boat, yeh two!" Hagrid bellowed.  
  
"Come on, Charlie! Don't be scared!" Jackie said, trying to drag him into the boat.  
  
"Me? I'm not scared!" Charlie said and finally sat down in the boat.  
  
"You are scared! You look totally freaked out," Jackie told him.  
  
"Well, okay, may-maybe a little bit," Charlie said and held his eyes closed when the boats started moving. He could hear Jackie and Barry trying to comfort him, but it didn't work.  
  
"Is he okay?" a voice Charlie didn't know, asked. It had to be the white- haired boy.  
  
"I am fine. Totally fine," Charlie said. He tried to sound self-assured, but his voice broke, and he sounded like a little boy who was nearly crying.  
  
They were at the middle of the lake, when it suddenly felt like something pushed their boat. It careened, Jackie screamed, and Charlie opened his eyes right before he fell into the lake.  
  
The water was cold and dark and deep. He couldn't see anything, and he couldn't breath. He panicked totally, sure he was about to die. His head broke the water level, and he spat and gasped, just to go underneath the water again.  
  
Then suddenly a pair of strong arms got hold of him and pulled him up. Hagrid.  
  
"Yeh okay?" Hagrid asked. Charlie was shaking all over, although he didn't know if it was from coldness or from fear. Hagrid took off his overcoat and laid it over Charlie's shoulders.  
  
"Charlie! Are you okay?" Jackie called from their boat.  
  
"He's fine!" Hagrid called back. Then he looked back at Charlie. "Yeh better stay here'n me boat," he said. Charlie gave him a weak smile. He was glad his face was all wet so that Hagrid couldn't see he was crying.  
  
End of Chapter Three 


	5. The Sorting

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, but when I finally had the chance to use the computer, it didn't like me for some strange reason and didn't want to do as I told it to - grr....  
  
Hermione 'DB' Granger: I think you misunderstood - Charlie WAS NOT telling you to be nice to Annie in any way, shape or form. On the contrary, he was saying you were clever if you don't like her. And yes, the twins are 2 years old and no, Ginny hasn't been born yet.  
  
Chapter Four  
  
THE SORTING  
  
They reached Hogwarts not long afterwards. Hagrid knocked at the door and a tall, black-haired witch came out. She must be McGonagall, Charlie thought. And right he was.  
  
"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall", said Hagrid.  
  
Professor McGonagall looked at Charlie, took out her wand, aimed at him, and muttered something, and all of a sudden, Charlie became all dry. Then she gave Hagrid his overcoat back, and told them all to follow her.  
  
Professor McGonagall led them to a small chamber, and stood up in front of them.  
  
"Welcome to Hogwarts," she said. "The Sorting Ceremony will soon begin. You will be sorted into houses. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Each house has its own history and each has produced outstanding wizards and witches. While you're here, your house will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn your house points, and your rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points wins the house cup. I hope each of you will be a credit to the house you get into." She looked at them, and everyone was sure it was just him or her she was looking at. Jackie was fingering with her hair, and Barry was biting his forefinger.  
  
"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall, told them to be quiet and left the chamber.  
  
Charlie wasn't cold anymore, so now he began to become very, very nervous. Until now, he had been absolutely sure he would get in Gryffindor, but now he started to think. What if he didn't get in Gryffindor? What if he ended up in Slytherin? Calm down, he thought, there's nothing to worry about. You're going to be in Gryffindor, you are.... you are.....  
  
"God damn it, I'm really nervous now!" Jackie said, breaking the silence. "Stop doing that, Charlie!"  
  
"Doing what?" Charlie demanded.  
  
"Biting your nails. It makes me even more nervous!" Jackie said and bit her lower lip. Charlie hadn't even noticed he was biting his nails. It was a bad habit he'd had ever since he was about six years old, even though his mum constantly tried to make him stop doing it.  
  
The white-haired boy from the boat suddenly exclaimed a yelp, and they all turned to him. He stood by the wall, and right beside him a ghost had just floated through the wall. Another ghost followed, until they were about twenty. Several of the other students screamed, including Barry and the white-haired boy. Jackie was just staring at the ghosts in horror, until one of them noticed her and said 'hello.'  
  
".....hello," said Jackie slowly and low.  
  
"You're first years, right?" said one of the other ghosts.  
  
"Hope to see you in Ravenclaw," said another one with a smile.  
  
Then professor McGonagall returned and told them to follow her into the Great Hall. The ghosts disappeared through the wall again, and Charlie, Jackie and Barry stood up on a line with the other first years.  
  
They walked into the Great Hall.  
  
'Wauw!' Charlie thought, 'this is amazing!' And it was amazing. The ceiling was one of the coolest things Charlie had ever seen. It looked as though there was no ceiling, and the castle just was open into the sky. Bill had told him it was bewitched so it would look like the sky outside, but still. it was amazing. Charlie was so busy staring at everything, that he didn't realised the rest of the first years had stopped, and he walked right into the girl in front of him. She turned around and met his eyes.  
  
"Sorry," he whispered. She just smiled and turned around again. She was actually pretty sweet. Long blond hair and grey eyes, and when she smiled at him, she had had small dimples in her cheeks.  
  
Now Professor McGonagall caught his attention. She had brought out a four- legged stool with a battered, old hat on it.  
  
"What is that?" Jackie whispered. Charlie didn't have the chance to answer before the hat began to sing:  
  
"For many, many years ago,  
Four magicians had a dream  
Build a wizard school they wanted to,  
So those four became the Hogwarts Team.  
Gryffindor took in his house  
The brave and daring kids,  
Ravenclaw in her house would dispose,  
Those to whom wisdom and learning fits.  
Hufflepuff took the calm and kind,  
Those who where loyal and working hard,  
While Slytherin always could find  
Those who where powerful and sly at heart.  
They chose by themselves in many years  
Until all of them became old.  
On the question of who now should choose the students of theirs,  
Gryffindor the others something told.  
He said that they could use his hat  
Give it a mind all of its own  
A special ability so that  
It could choose students all alone.  
The hat was me and now again,  
I have to choose a house for you.  
Just put me on your head and then  
I'll see which house you belong to.  
Ravenclaw or Gryffindor,  
Hufflepuff or Slytherin,  
The same excitement every year  
When the new students begin.  
So now on your head you will put me,  
I'll tell you where you belong,  
Because into your mind I can see  
And find out at which point you're strong.  
So come up now, sit on the stool,  
Many before you there have sat.  
Don't be scared, I'm not a fool;  
I am the Sorting Hat!"  
  
Now everyone in the hall burst into applause as the hat bowed. Barry wore a face expression that was somewhere between disgust and astonishment. Professor McGonagall stepped forward with a long list of parchment in her hand.  
  
"When I call your name," she said, "you come up here, take on the hat, sit down on the stool and then you will find out what house you belong to. I say your last name first. Albert, Suzanne." A girl with curly hair went up and took the hat on. Her head disappeared totally in it. There was silence for a minute. Then the hat shouted:  
  
"RAVENCLAW!" Suzanne took off the hat with a big grin and went down to the Ravenclaw table.  
  
"Boswell, Steve." A blond boy took on the hat and became the first Hufflepuff.  
  
Charlie's eyes wandered to the ceiling again, and then around in the hall. He found Bill at the Gryffindor table, as close to the Sorting Hat as he could get. Bill smiled at him.  
  
Professor McGonagall had reached "Jensen, Daniel," and the white-haired boy from the boat went up to the hat. The hat was only on his head for four seconds, before it declared him a Gryffindor. Charlie looked at him as he walked down to the Gryffindor table. Daniel caught his eyes and gave him a thumb-up and a big smile.  
  
Not long afterwards, Professor McGonagall called: "Larkin, Jacqueline." Jackie looked nervously at Charlie, then she took a deep breath and stepped up to the stool, put the hat on and sat down. It lasted almost a minute. Charlie couldn't help but biting his nails. Jackie sat all stiff and held convulsive on to the stool. She was biting her lower lip again. She obviously did that when she was nervous. Then, finally.... "GRYFFINDOR!" Charlie could see how relieved Jackie was as she lay down the hat and went down to the Gryffindor table where she took place besides Bill.  
  
The sorting went on for a little while, but when "Miles, Gabe" became a Slytherin, Charlie felt it like Gabe stared right at him. He tried to look away, but he could still feel Gabe's eyes on him. Gabe kept staring at Charlie until it was Annie's turn to be sorted.  
  
Charlie couldn't help but smile when he saw how nervous she was when she walked up to the stool, where she sat for around thirty seconds, before she was declared. a Gryffindor!  
  
Charlie's jaw dropped. *How* could Annie Mullins become a Gryffindor? She should be in Ravenclaw. Or Hufflepuff. Or Slytherin. Anywhere but Gryffindor! Annie, however, was very happy as she sat down besides Bill, smiling her most charming smile in a hope to make him talk to her. Nevertheless, Bill just kept chatting with Kate, who sat opposite him.  
  
"O'Connor, Ross," who got into Ravenclaw, was the next to be sorted, and then six more were sorted - three for Ravenclaw, two for Slytherin and one for Hufflepuff - before it was Barry's turn. It took only the hat half as long as with Jackie to declare him a Gryffindor. Right after him a twin couple - Max and Lindy Teller, were declared Gryffindors too, and then McGonagall called "Tristan, Michelle," who appeared to be the blond girl Charlie had bumped into earlier. She wasn't smiling right now. Actually, she was all pale as she put on the hat. She didn't have to sit there long, before the hat shouted "HUFFLEPUFF!" She pulled off the hat and now she smiled. The small dimples were back in her cheeks, and Charlie couldn't help but smile back when she looked down at him. He had a weird feeling in his stomach, but he thought it was just nervousness from being sorted.  
  
And now, finally: "Weasley, Charles." Charlie swallowed and walked up to the stool and took on the hat. It fell down over his eyes so he couldn't see anything. Then he heard a tiny voice in his ear. "Second Weasley, hah? Well, you're not as level-headed as your brother, but there's actually no doubt here. GRYFFINDOR!" 'That's exactly what I said,' Charlie thought as he went down to the table and sat down between Jackie and Daniel Jensen.  
  
"Well done, Charlie," Bill said with a grin. Then he became serious. "Jackie just told me you fell in the lake. Are you alright?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine. You don't have to be worried," Charlie said as "Wright, Trina", became a Slytherin. I don't like her, Charlie thought. She looks evil.  
  
"I certainly don't like the look on her face," Jackie said to him as "Yard, Jennifer," who went to Slytherin too, ended the sorting.  
  
Dumbledore stood up.  
  
"Welcome, welcome to a new year at Hogwarts. I hope all of you are ready to a new year with a lot of learning. And now: Well, eat." With those words and a great applause, Dumbledore sat down again.  
  
"An order is an order," said Charlie to Jackie and Barry as the dishes in front of them filled up with food.  
  
"Why is there mint humbugs?" Barry asked.  
  
"I don't know. Billy?" Charlie looked at his big brother.  
  
"I don't know either," Bill said, shrugging.  
  
"I do," Jackie said, "it's so Barry can have something to ask about." Barry glared at her. "My brother always says so when I ask him something he doesn't know the answer to," Jackie explained.  
  
A couple of minutes later, Charlie noticed that Jackie was talking to a dark-haired boy opposite her. She seemed to know him quite well.  
  
"Hey, Jackie," Charlie said, "is that someone you know?" he nodded towards the boy.  
  
"Oh yes, he's my cousin, Joshua Thomas."  
  
"But you can call me Josh or JT. Most people do that," the boy broke in.  
  
"Okay. How 'bout Joshie?" Charlie said with a grin. "I'm Charlie Weasley, by the way."  
  
"JT's just started second year," Jackie explained.  
  
They kept chatting for a while, until Charlie suddenly realised that Jackie was glaring at him.  
  
"What?" he asked.  
  
"How much can you eat?" she demanded.  
  
"You would be surprised if you knew," Bill broke in.  
  
"Shut up, Billy!" Charlie said. "My appetite is good, and so what?"  
  
"So nothing. It just surprised me," Jackie said. Charlie couldn't blame her. He knew he was eating a lot. He always was. More than Bill, even though Bill was two years older.  
  
"Look, there's that ghost from before - the one that said hello to me," Jackie said and pointed at a ghost in ruff and tights.  
  
"You shouldn't point," said the ghost. "It's not polite."  
  
"Sorry. It's just.... I've never met a ghost before," Jackie said.  
  
"I'm not just a ghost. I'm Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service. Resident ghost of Gryffindor tower," said the ghost and looked very proud of himself.  
  
"You can just call him Nearly Headless Nick," Evan, Bill's friend, said. Sir Nicholas didn't seem so pleased about that name.  
  
"Doesn't look like he likes that NICKname," Jackie said, grinning.  
  
"Bad joke," Charlie told her.  
  
"Oh, don't be mad, Nick. Show them your little 'trick'," Kate asked. Nick sighed and made his head nearly fall off.  
  
Several of the new students yelped. The older students just smiled - they had seen it before.  
  
"Eww, now I've lost my appetite," Jackie said.  
  
"Cool," was Charlie's comment. He hadn't lost his appetite - that had never happened to him - so when the puddings appeared, he surprised Jackie once again.  
  
"I really don't know what you do with all that," she said and shook her head.  
  
When the puddings had disappeared, Dumbledore stood up again.  
  
"Welcome, welcome.... no, I have already said that. Ahem -I just want you all to remember that the forest is forbidden to all students!" Dumbledore talked for a little while, but Charlie didn't listen, because someone had lost a toad, which now had jumped up on Charlie's lap. Charlie smiled down at it, but didn't dare talk to it now, where everybody was quiet. Then suddenly the toad jumped up to his face, Charlie leaned backwards..... and fell backwards off the bench and hit the floor with a loud bump.  
  
Charlie could feel how everyone was staring at him, and he could feel how his face competed with his hair about being most red. His eyes fell on Jackie, who had both of her hands pressed onto her mouth, but she didn't succeed in stifle a laugh. The whole table burst into laughter while Charlie rose from the floor. He looked up at Dumbledore, and even he chuckled a bit to himself. Then he cleared his throat. "And now, let's sing the school song. Pick your tune, everyone!" Then he flicked a wand and made the words appear above the table.  
  
"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,  
Teach us something please,  
Whether we be old and bald  
Or young with scabby knees,  
Our heads could do with filling  
With some interesting stuff,  
For now they're bare and full of air,  
Dead flies and bits of fluff,  
So teach us things worth knowing,  
Bring back what we've forgot,  
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,  
And learn until our brains all rot."  
  
"And now, time for bed," Dumbledore said, and everyone headed for the stairs.  
  
They reached a portrait of a fat lady in a pink silk dress.  
  
"Password?" she asked. A chubby girl with long, white-blond hair answered: "Dixi dictum," the portrait swung aside and they stepped into the Gryffindor common room. The girl, who was obviously a Prefect, stepped up in front of them.  
  
"Okay, this is the Gryffindor common room. Upstairs are the dormitories. Boys to the left, girls to the right. It's not hard to find." She smiled. "You better go to bed now, it's getting late." With those words and another smile, she went up the stairs herself, followed by the first years.  
  
"Well, I guess we'll see tomorrow then," Jackie said as they reached the door with 'First Year Girls' written on it.  
  
"How come you..... oh yeah," Charlie remembered Jackie being a girl. "'Night, then."  
  
"G'night," she said, pushing the door open.  
  
That night, when Charlie lay in his bed, looking out the window, he was absolutely sure he saw something move in The Forbidden Forest, which he could see from the window. He sat up in his bed, trying to see it again, but it had disappeared into the Forest. 'I don't care if it's forbidden,' he thought, 'I'm going in there tomorrow!' He smiled to himself and lay down again. 'This is just the coolest place I've ever been,' he thought as he looked out the window again, this time at the sky, where the stars were shining. He was just about to remember whether there were dragons in this part of the country or not, when he fell asleep. 


	6. Hagrid

Hermione 'DB' Granger: Yes, Bill is two older than Charlie, and also two school years above, which means he's a third year now. It's all right with the blonde mo, I have them all the time, and my hair's dark brown....  
  
Alex: Du aner ikke, hvor dejligt det er at få reviews fra dig - du er en af grundende til at jeg skriver den her historie Elsker dig, tøs....  
  
A/N: I'm not quite sure I've got Hagrid's accent right, but I've done my best...  
  
Chapter Five  
  
HAGRID  
  
The next day, when Charlie woke up, he didn't know where he was at first, but when he remembered that he was at Hogwarts, he jumped out of bed and got dressed in a hurry. Seeing as the Forest was forbidden, it would probably be cleverest to explore it before anyone was awake. He checked the watch on his bedside table; 5.15 am. He had loads of time.  
  
He considered waking up Jackie, but decided against it, as she was in the girls' dorm, and if he went in there to wake her up, maybe the other girls would wake up too, and that would just get him in trouble. Besides, it would be pretty impressing if he knew everything about the Forest before Jackie had even been inside it.  
  
So, silently, he slid down the banister to the Gryffindor common room and climbed through the portrait hole.  
  
"What are you doing up so early?" asked the fat lady.  
  
"Um, nothing," Charlie answered. The fat lady looked a bit offended.  
  
"Of course, You don't have to tell me. Just wake me up at this ungodly hour because you have to do 'nothing' -" Charlie didn't stay to hear her speech, but walked as silent as he could through the corridor, hid behind a suit of armour so Peeves wouldn't see him, and finally, he was outside. The morning air was fresh and a bit chilly, and the grass was wet, he figured out, when he slipped and fell on his stomach. Quickly, he got back up and soon after, he had reached the edge of the Forest.  
  
He glanced up at the castle for the last time, making sure that no one was watching him. Then he entered the Forest.  
  
It was weird, how everything seemed to close around him. The trees seemed to be growing right into the sky, and the sky was only visible in a few places between the leaves.  
  
The sounds were also different from outside the Forest. Birds were singing, but for some weird reason, they didn't sound like they did outside this place that seemed to change everything. He could hear noises that seemed to come from animals, but he couldn't distinguish them, as he had never heard anything like that before. He walked further into the Forest, trying to look in every direction at once, not wanting to miss a single thing.  
  
Suddenly, he heard a crack coming from left, and he turned his head to see what t was. Something was making its way towards him. something big. Charlie knew it would probably be smartest to get out of the way, but he really wanted to know what was making all that noise, so he stayed where he was, and soon, something, no, someone pushed the branches aside before him. Hagrid.  
  
Hagrid's eyes fell on Charlie, who, not knowing Hagrid especially well, was scared to death.  
  
"What are yeh doin' in here?" Hagrid asked, seemingly shocked.  
  
Charlie's lips moved, but no sound was coming out of them.  
  
Hagrid's eyes darted towards his hair.  
  
"Yeh're a Weasley, aren't yeh?" he asked. Charlie swallowed and nodded.  
  
"Y - yes," he stuttered.  
  
"Well, yeh shouldn't be in here. Yeh know it's forbidden!"  
  
"Well, yeah, but......"  
  
"Yeh should rather go back up t' the school again before sumone notices yeh're gone," Hagrid said.  
  
"Yes....." Charlie didn't move, though. He was too curious.  
  
"What are you doing in here?" he asked, looking up at Hagrid.  
  
"Lookin' for summat," Hagrid answered and began to walk further into the Forest, looking at the trees. Charlie looked back. He knew he should go back to the castle, but..... no. He followed Hagrid.  
  
"What're you looking for?" he asked, trying to keep up with Hagrid's long steps. Hagrid stopped and turned to face him.  
  
"Didn' I tell yeh to go back t' the castle?" he asked.  
  
"Well, yeah, but...." Charlie scratched the back of his head.  
  
"But alright, then. I'm lookin' for me Demiguise," Hagrid told him. Charlie's eyes widened.  
  
"You got one of those?" he said, "But I thought they only lived in the Far East!"  
  
"Well, they do," Hagrid explained, "An' I won't tell yeh where I got him from."  
  
"It'll be hard to find," Charlie said, looking up at the trees above his head. "They can make themselves invisible."  
  
"I know that," said Hagrid. "But little Gibson's bin gone since yesterday."  
  
"Gibson?" Charlie looked up at Hagrid in amusement.  
  
"Yes," Hagrid answered, oblivious to the look on Charlie's face. He began walking again, calling "Gibson!" occasionally.  
  
"Wait!" Charlie said. "I can help you find him!"  
  
Hagrid stopped, turned and looked at the little boy in front of him. The boy looked too young to be anything but a first year, and he had never met anyone below third who knew what a Demiguise was, not to speak about where it lived. This boy had to be special.  
  
"Alright," Hagrid found himself saying. "But don' tell anyone!" Charlie nodded vigorously.  
  
"My name's Charlie, by the way," he said, remembering he hadn't introduced himself.  
  
"Alright, Charlie, so let's find me little Gibson."  
  
They sought for a long time - it is quite difficult to find an animal that can make itself invisible on will, but finally, Hagrid heard a cry of triumph.  
  
"I got him! Hagrid, I got him!"  
  
Hurrying to the place where the cry had came from, Hagrid saw Charlie holding an animal in his arms. It looked a great deal like an ape, except that it was covered in a long, silvery pelt, and it was struggling to get out of Charlie's grip.  
  
"Gibson!" Hagrid exclaimed. "C'mere, boy!" The animal didn't come, so Hagrid walked forward and took him from Charlie, once again looking at the little boy.  
  
"I have ne'er met anyone from firs' year who was able to catch a Demiguise," he said. Charlie looked proud.  
  
"Why don' yeh come with me back to me hut?" Hagrid then asked, and Charlie walked gladly with him.  
  
Hagrid lived in a small wooden house just outside the Forest.  
  
"Come with me inside; I'll make a cuppa," Hagrid suggested and Charlie said yes.  
  
While making the tea, Hagrid suddenly turned to face Charlie and exclaimed,  
  
"Now I know who yeh are! I saved yeh from the lake!"  
  
Charlie felt his face flush.  
  
"Um...... yeah......" He shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He didn't want to talk about that. "Well..... I can't swim," he said, not looking at Hagrid.  
  
"So I figured," Hagrid answered with a smile and put the tea pot down on the table.  
  
Charlie stayed in the hut for a long time - he found it amazing how easy it was to talk with Hagrid and when he left, he had found out that he wasn't the only one loving weird and dangerous animals. He didn't remember how they'd gotten to the subject dragons, but when they got there, they talked about them for almost half an hour.  
  
Everyone else had already begun their breakfast when Charlie entered the Great Hall, panting a little because he'd run all the way from Hagrid's hut.  
  
"Where in the world were you?" asked Jackie as he sat down besides her.  
  
"Down at Hagrid's - the gamekeeper, you know - would you believe, he's just as interested in animals as I am!" Charlie told her.  
  
"What were you doing down there so early?"  
  
"S'fen foe escore e forref," was the reply she got. She raised one eyebrow at her friend, and Charlie swallowed before repeating what he'd said: "I went to explore the Forest. But then I met Hagrid in there, and I helped him find his Demiguise - an animal - and then we went back to his hut."  
  
"But the Forest is forbidden," Jackie said in a hushed voice so no one would hear them.  
  
"Ho ferref?" was the reply from Charlie this time.  
  
"It means: 'Who cares?'," Bill leaned in over the table and told her. "I've had years of practise and though I don't speak it, I perfectly understand Charlieatmealsish." He smiled at her.  
  
Jackie smiled back and reminded herself to ask in the library if they had a dictionary that could help her understand Charlieatmealsish.  
  
End of Chapter Four 


	7. The Flying Lesson

Chapter Six  
  
THE FLYING LESSON  
  
On Wednesday, they had their first flying lesson. Gryffindor and Hufflepuff were put together.  
  
"I don't see why we have to take flying lessons! I mean, if someone in our family should take them, it would be Billy," Charlie said at the breakfast table.  
  
"Hey!" Bill said, "I've fallen off once! Are you planning on teasing me for that forever?"  
  
"Yes," Charlie answered. Bill shook his head and went back to his conversation with a beautiful girl with long, black hair. Juliana Blaise, one of Hogwarts' most beautiful third years (if not the most beautiful) and Bill's friend. Yes, believe it or not, Bill Weasley is actually capable of having a - platonic - friendship with a beautiful girl.  
  
"It's because of all the Muggle-borns," Barry said. "We don't know how to fly. But I'm sure looking forward to it. It must be wonderful flying around up there."  
  
"It is," Charlie informed him.  
  
"Well, we better go, or we'll be late for class," Jackie broke in and rose from her chair. Barry and Charlie sighed and followed her out of the Great Hall. Their first class that Wednesday was Transfiguration with the Ravenclaws, but before that, they had to find the Transfiguration classroom, which was some task by itself.  
  
"I think we should go to the left here," Barry said, pointing.  
  
"No, we've already been there. haven't we?" asked Jackie, looking around.  
  
"Having trouble, my dears?" a voice suddenly demanded. It was a portrait of a beautiful woman in a wine red dress.  
  
"Yes, where's the Transfiguration classroom?" Charlie asked.  
  
"Down the hall, turn to the right, down the stairs and then turn left. You can't miss it," said the portrait. Charlie, Jackie and Barry thanked her and hurried down the hall.  
  
"I'm still shocked every time they do that," Barry said, as they walked down the stairs.  
  
Reaching the classroom, Jackie looked at her wristwatch.  
  
"Oh great, we're ten minutes late," she said, before pushing the door open.  
  
Everyone turned to look at them as they walked through the room and found three seats next to each other.  
  
"I'm glad you cared to join us today," said Professor McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher, coldly.  
  
"Oh, it's our pleasure," answered Jackie, causing the other students to laugh and Professor McGonagall to send her a disapproving look.  
  
Soon afterwards, the whole class were busy trying to turn matches into pins.  
  
"I did something, look!" said Charlie to Jackie after ten minutes of time, when a purple smoke surrounded his match.  
  
"What?" Jackie demanded.  
  
The smoke faded, and Charlie looked at his match.  
  
"Er. I turned it blue," he said, grinning.  
  
The first to success was Ross O'Connor, a Ravenclaw with dark hair.  
  
"Very good, Mr O'Connor," praised Professor McGonagall. Barry rolled his eyes at Charlie.  
  
And the next (surprise.) was none other than Annie. She sent Charlie a degrading look, and he mouthed the words "I'll kill you."  
  
Later that day, the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff first years were all outside, waiting for their teacher to arrive. Charlie had eyed the blond girl from the sorting - Michelle. something, talking eagerly with a couple of girls.  
  
"Good afternoon, class," said a voice. Their teacher, Madam Hooch, had arrived.  
  
"Now, we won't waste our time, so everyone; put your right hand over your broomstick, and say 'Up'. If you're lucky, it'll jump right into your hand."  
  
A lot of 'Up's echoed from the children as they tried to make their broom do what it was supposed to. Charlie's own had jumped right into his hand, which did not come as a surprise for him. Now it was his turn to send Annie a degrading look as she desperately tried to make her broom raise more than two inches from the ground. Barry's had gotten about halfway there before it had fallen down again and rolled away, and Jackie's hadn't moved at all.  
  
"So, now I want you to mount your broom and grip it tight so you won't fall off," said Madam Hooch when they all had gotten hold of their brooms.  
  
"When I blow my whistle, I want you to kick of the ground, hard."  
  
After a few minutes, they landed again, and not long afterwards, the class was flying around in the air, while Madam Hooch acknowledged them and gave them advice.  
  
"Don't hold it so tight, Miss Teller! Hold it a little more level, Mr Shipley. " and the like. Charlie eyed the white-haired boy - Daniel Jensen, he reminded himself - who was a pretty good flyer. His eyes wandered to Jackie, who - to say it mildly - wasn't.  
  
She'd told him about how she lived in a Muggle village because her father was a Muggle, and therefore wasn't allowed to fly around in the neighbourhood, but this was amusing. She held the poor broom so tight that her knuckles were white, and Madam Hooch had to ask her to loosen her grip three times before she did it. It turned out to be a stupid thing to do, because after a few tries of turning left and right, Jackie's hands slipped and, as she was still clinging onto the broom, she just turned around and hung upside-down.  
  
Charlie did his best not to laugh, but it was almost impossible as she called, "Hello!! Could I get some help over here?!"  
  
Daniel Jensen flew towards her and turned her right-side-up again.  
  
"Hey, thanks. Daniel," Jackie smiled, redheaded and bushy-haired. Daniel mumbled something that sounded like 'welcome', then flew away quickly.  
  
Madam Hooch told them to land right after that.  
  
"What in the name of Heaven was that all about?" Barry asked Jackie, referring to her stunt.  
  
"That? That was. I really don't know. Stupid brooms they've got here."  
  
"Oh yeah, that would never have happened at home, would it?" Charlie asked sarcastically.  
  
"No. At home, I ride a bike, not a broom," Jackie answered logically.  
  
"What's a bike?"  
  
"It's something Muggles use. Two wheels, a saddle and. some more stuff. Mine's blue."  
  
"Whatever. But that stunt looked kinda stupid, you know."  
  
"It did? Dang, I hoped everyone would be clapping and whistling at me."  
  
"You're crazy, you know that?" said Charlie and grinned at her.  
  
"Yep, that's why I'm your friend," Jackie answered.  
  
"Is that so?"  
  
"Yes, indeed."  
  
"So we're The Crazy Couple. What's for lunch?" Charlie asked and laid his arm around Jackie's shoulder.  
  
"Well, call me crazy, but how about we go inside and find out?"  
  
"You are so smart."  
  
"I know."  
  
So Jackie and Charlie walked over the grounds, closely followed by Barry.  
  
"Daniel? Are you coming?" Dennis Lerey asked his friend, who was staring after the trio walking towards the school. Max Teller was waiting for them a few steps away, but Daniel didn't respond. It took a moment before he spoke, and when he did, it wasn't an answer.  
  
"I like that girl," he said.  
  
"Who? Jackie the tomboy?" Max said, and he and Dennis looked in the same direction as Daniel.  
  
"Yeah. I like her."  
  
"Forget it, mate, you don't have a chance. She'll end up with Charlie, even I can see that," Dennis said and raked a hand through his thick, blond hair.  
  
Daniel glanced at Jackie, Charlie and Barry for one last time, before wiping his hair out of his eyes where the wind had blown it.  
  
"I'm not so sure, Dennis. I'm not so sure."  
  
End of Chapter Six 


	8. Lost Childhood

A/N: I have discovered something during the writing of this story, and that is that no mother, father, brother, friend or boyfriend of a writer can understand that a writer is working when she's walking up and down the floor, occasionally yelling or muttering to herself, often the same two lines over and over again.  
  
Chapter Seven  
  
LOST CHILDHOOD  
  
It was the afternoon on a Friday late in October. The Gryffindor first years had just finished a Herbology lesson and where now walking back to the castle. It had rained every single day in the past week, and the grounds were practically covered in mud. Annie was walking across the Hogwarts grounds, talking to her friend Joan Kinson, when suddenly she felt someone push her - hard - in the back, and she lost her balance. With a shriek, she fell face down in a pile of mud.  
  
Furious, she raised her head and wiped the mud from her eyes. She could hear someone laugh, and not just anyone. Even though her vision was blurry, she could recognise that red hair anywhere.  
  
"CHARLES WEASLEY!" she spat, tasting mud on her tongue. "You're going to regret that!"  
  
"Oh yeah?" he said, as Joan helped Annie up. "What makes you think that? You're not gonna beat me up, are you?"  
  
"Well," said Annie, trying to brush the mud off her robes, "Maybe I am." Charlie roared with laughter.  
  
"You'd better not try, Babydoll, or you might get hurt!" he said in between gasps of laughter. Then he stopped and looked concerned at her.  
  
"You're not crying, are you, Annie?"  
  
"No, of course I'm not crying!" said Annie angrily. Where did he get that idea? His face, that before had been concerned, cracked in a big smile.  
  
"Damn it, what a shame!" he said. "Better luck next time," he told himself.  
  
With a last dagger-shooting look at him, Annie turned her head and made the not-so-yellow-anymore curls bounce as she and Joan walked up to the castle.  
  
"Joan!" Charlie called after them. "Watch out! There's a mud-monster right beside you!" The girls didn't even turn around.  
  
"I'll bet you a thousand galleons that Annie has said 'he's SO childish' by now," Jackie said. Charlie turned to look at her.  
  
"I can't stand either of them, but of course, if it weren't for them, who'd I be bullying?" he said. "You're mean, Dragon Boy, you really are," Jackie answered him.  
  
***  
  
Later that day, Charlie and Jackie were in the boys' dorm, doing their homework. Or, they had their books open in front of them, but they didn't read anything in the slightest. They were just bored out of their minds with facts about stuff happening hundreds of years ago. Finally, Jackie got sick of the quietness.  
  
"Why is it that you hate Annie so much anyway?" she asked and slammed her History book shut.  
  
"Because she always has to be so annoyingly perfect! I hate the way she speaks and the way she moves her body and the way everything about her's just so bloody perfect!" Charlie said, hammering his fist against the table in disgust.  
  
"I know that, thank you, but why?" Jackie looked questioningly up at him from her place on the bed.  
  
"Well. actually there was a time when we were very good friends," Charlie finally said, and Jackie propped her head up on her hands to listen. "When we were very small.... before we went to primary school, we played together almost every day. We played house and everything..... please don't tell anyone that I've ever been playing house." Jackie tried to nod, but then found that too uncomfortable, seeing as her head rested on her hands.  
  
"I won't," she said instead. "Continue."  
  
"Well.... the last summer before school..... the summer we turned seven...... that was the last summer we were best friends. Then we went to school, and, well, suddenly Annie started becoming all preppy and perfect girl - blah.... so we drifted apart. And..... we never found our way back again."  
  
"So actually, you can call Annie your lost childhood," Jackie said with a smile from amusement.  
  
"No, I wouldn't call her that. More my lost nightmare," Charlie said and smiled back.  
  
***  
  
In the girls' dorm, something alike happened at just the same time that both Charlie and Jackie were unaware of. Annie was muttering about Charlie and his childishness, when Joan, who had been looking at her for the past few minutes, asked the exact same question as Jackie had asked Charlie:  
  
"Annie, why is that you hate Charlie so much, anyway?"  
  
Annie stopped trying to get the mud off her robes and looked back at Joan.  
  
"Just because", she answered and looked back at her robes again.  
  
"But Annie, why? Please tell me, I'm curious," Joan begged.  
  
"Actually, the truth is that I don't know it myself," Annie said, moved from her chair and came to sit besides Joan, who shifted to make space for her on the bed.  
  
"We were great friends when we were younger..... until we had to start primary school. From we were two until we were seven we were best friends. Bill and Evan have been friends ever since they were two, so it was only natural for Charlie and me to be friends too. Especially because there weren't any other wizarding children in the village. We played everything. We climbed trees, and he was so sweet. He climbed so high and climbed down again to help me up. He played house with me. but not for long, because even then, he wanted to do something wild most of the time. The summer we both turned seven was the last we spent together as friends.  
  
Then we started in school, and everything changed. Charlie found out that Muggle children could be played with as well, and he began being mean to me. He thought the boys cooler than me, because they wanted to roll around in mud and fight for fun, and they never wanted to play house. So we.... we drifted apart. And the only thing I could think of I had chance of being able to impress him in was in the school subjects, so I decided I would be the best in our class, and I did. I never won his friendship back anyway. And as we grew, our friendship shattered. He hates me, and that's why I hate him," Annie ended her narrative.  
  
"But you miss him, don't you?" asked Joan and laid her arm around Annie. "You miss the little boy, who wanted to play with you, don't you?"  
  
Annie shook off her arm.  
  
"No, I don't. Joan, that's ridiculous! That's years and years ago, why would I miss it now?" She rose from the bed, found her Transfiguration book, opened it and began reading. Joan looked at her for a moment, then shrugged and dug out her own book.  
  
*FLASHBACK*  
  
Two children at the age six run laughing around in the Burrow's back garden. A boy with flaming red hair and a girl with yellow curls.  
  
Mrs Weasley emerges from the Burrow and calls out: "Annie! It's time to go home!"  
  
"Okay," the little girl calls back.  
  
The two children run together around the Burrow and laugh when they overhaul Mrs Weasley, who smiles.  
  
When they reach the front yard, the little boy stops, while the girl keeps running in direction of the village. He lifts his hand and waves at her.  
  
"Bye, Annie."  
  
Without stopping running, she turns her head and waves back at him, smiling.  
  
"Bye, Charlie, I'll see you tomorrow."  
  
*END OF FLASHBACK*  
  
~*~ Lets go back, lets rewind to the days that remind me  
  
Of all the good times that we spent together  
  
And I don't know why we just let it all slide  
  
When we both knew inside we were right for each other....~*~  
  
- Everything I Knew; by Busted 


	9. Quidditch Day

A/N: Finally and update... I'm sorry, but I haven't had much time to work on this lately, as I also have two original novels that I'm writing (in Danish) plus all the schoolwork.... Anyway, you'll get the Christmas chapter before Christmas, I promise!  
  
Chapter Eight  
  
QUIDDITCH DAY  
  
November came with rain and coldness, but also with something as important as the year's first Quidditch match! On Saturday, Gryffindor would play against Ravenclaw, and, if you believe in Charlie as a Seer, win.  
  
"Good morning everyone! Ready to go cheer for our favourite and all-time- best school team?" was the greeting that met Barry, Max, Dennis and Daniel when they woke up Saturday morning.  
  
Dennis, who hated to be woken up more than three minutes before breakfast, yanked his bed curtains aside and, with blond hair standing on end, looked around bleary-eyed to see who had dared to interrupt his beauty sleep.  
  
"'Morning, Dennis!!" yelled The Redheaded Tornado, as Dennis had named his roommate after knowing him a week. The name didn't apply to Charlie especially much, as it reminded him of the Tutshill Tornadoes, who he was very far from supporting! Nevertheless, Dennis didn't seem to have any intentions of changing this name.  
  
"It. Is. Not. Morning." Dennis succeeded in saying.  
  
"Oh, but it is!" Charlie said, rolled up the curtain and revealed nothing but darkness.  
  
"It's night, Charlie. It's dark. It's Saturday! Let us sleep!" Daniel called from behind his bed curtains.  
  
"It isn't night! It's just dark because it's November. And it's Quidditch day today!"  
  
Two months of living with Charlie Weasley had taught his four roommates quite a lot about.... well.... living with Charlie. Thus, they had grown accustomed to a lot of his weird habits, such as leaving Every Flavour Beans all around the dorm or forgetting to shower for a week. They accepted him now, more or less unconscious, as a little brother. However, they would never, never grow accustomed to be woken up at six in the morning.  
  
"Come on, Barry! You said yesterday that you were so exited to see what real Quidditch was like!" Charlie said, sticking his head through the curtains around Barry's bed, trying to wake up his friend. Barry grumbled and turned his back to him and Charlie was reminded of someone else. And so he did what was most natural in that situation: He jumped onto Barry's bed.  
  
Barry let out a startled scream which made Daniel and Max look out to see what was happening. Barry was now fully awake and hit Charlie over the head with his pillow. Charlie answered by grabbing him around the middle, turning him around and pressing him down onto the mattress. "Do you surrender?" he asked.  
  
"No!" was Barry's muffled answer. Max came to rescue and succeeded in getting Charlie off the bed long enough for Barry to get up and jump onto the floor.  
  
"Ha!" he shouted. "Do I surrender? What a foolish question! As if I, Barry the Great, would ever surrender to you!"'  
  
"Barry the Great?" Charlie snorted, but then fell back in the game. "Before the sun has set today, I swear that I, Champ Charlie, will - will kick your ass!" Charlie had ran out of dignified speech in the end.  
  
"No, you shall not! I have brave soldiers, who will happily sacrifice their own lives, so that I may live!" said Barry the Great with an evil glint in the eye.  
  
"Who are they?" asked Champ Charlie suspiciously.  
  
"The first is I, Mighty Max," said Max, stepping up beside Barry. "One of the best-known warriors in history."  
  
"And I am second, Daniel the Invincible!" Daniel, who had crawled out of bed too, declared.  
  
"But I am with you, Champ Charlie," said Dennis. "Though we are only two, we will defeat you, Champ Charlie and I, Dennis the - the -" Dennis trailed off, needing a byname. Then he cleared up. "Dennis the Menace!"  
  
"But you are not only two!" said a voice from the door. "I, Ja-"  
  
"Jackie the Jackanapes!" shouted Barry happily.  
  
"No, I, Jaguar Jackie, will stand by your side and fight against these scoundrels, though it might be the last thing I do!"  
  
"Fine, then we're even. Men, get ready to fight!" Charlie shouted, starting the battle.  
  
Soon, everyone was immersed in the battle, so when Barry the Great escaped Jaguar Jackie's grip, ran out the door and down the stairs, everyone followed under loud yelling and hooting, jumped the stairs, three steps at a time or slid the banisters into the empty common room.  
  
The battle went on, sofas were used as barricades or fighting places, chairs and tables were turned over when someone ran closely around them or straight into them, and none of the battlers noticed when someone emerged through the portrait hole, before a voice cut through their own yells and laughs.  
  
"May I ask what is going on here?"  
  
Jackie let go of Daniel's waist. Max dropped the cushion he had been swinging over Dennis' head. Charlie and Barry let their hands fall and stepped slowly down from the sofa they had been standing on. All six children looked up at the stern face of Professor McGonagall. Her eyes behind the glasses moved from one to another of the six children in front of her, all wearing crushed pyjamases (Daniel only the trousers as he'd dropped the shirt halfway through the battle) and guilty looks.  
  
"Mr Shipley. Mr Weasley. Mr Jensen. Mr Teller. Mr Lerey and..... Miss Larkin. What are you doing?" she asked in a very cold, very stern and very frightening voice.  
  
Jackie spoke up: "It was a..... a battle, Professor McGonagall," she said.  
  
"A battle?" Professor McGonagall looked over the edge of her glasses at the girl in front of her. Jackie nodded.  
  
"Yes. We were playing. It was only a game. I'm sorry if we disturbed anyone."  
  
"Disturbed anyone?" asked Professor McGonagall in a voice that made them all wince. "You must have woken up the entire school with the racket you were making! And miss Larkin, I am disappointed. You, as a girl, ought not to be part of this!" Jackie looked up, mouth open. Never before had anyone told her something like that. However, before she could object, Professor McGonagall had turned to all of them.  
  
"Why are you up so early in the morning anyway?" she asked.  
  
"Charlie woke us up," Max said.  
  
"You know, it's the first Quidditch game of the season today and I couldn't sleep anymore," Charlie explained himself. Professor McGonagall took one last glance around them all and then she sighed.  
  
"Yes, very well, Mr Weasley. You'll get away with it this time. But mark my words: This is not accepted at this school, and if I catch you causing such a racket again, you will be punished. Am I making myself clear?"  
  
They all nodded vigorously.  
  
"Good. Now return to your dormitories and put on some proper clothing!"  
  
The six wandered up the stairs slowly and quietly. It wasn't necessary, though; as McGonagall had said, most people were awake by now.  
  
When Jackie walked into the girls' dormitory, she was met by four degrading looks.  
  
"Why did you do that?" Annie asked.  
  
"Why do you care?" Jackie shot back and began changing into her clothes.  
  
"You can't act like that! It's all just because you think it makes you cool to run around and play with the boys," Annie said. She was standing in front of the mirror and placing two light blue hair slides in her hair. Jackie stopped for a second. Then she pulled up her trousers and stood, wearing them and an unbuttoned shirt, in front of Annie, eyes flashing.  
  
"It's all just because you want to have Charlie as a friend again, isn't it?" she said.  
  
"No, of course not!" Annie answered.  
  
"Well, everything's fine then. Because Charlie doesn't pretend like you do. He really doesn't like you at all." Jackie swung her cloak over her shoulder and walked out of the room like a man who'd won a battle.  
  
She met Charlie outside the boys' dorm.  
  
"Hey Jack! Me and the boys can't agree who won. Me and Dennis say we do, but Daniel, Max and Barry say they do, and that we don't know because we were interrupted, so we agreed on taking revenge as soon's the match is over - outside, by the tree, you know."  
  
"Sure, Char, I'll be there...."  
  
"Hey, what's with the grin? You don't usually look so happy when you exit the girls' dorm?"  
  
"Well, let's just say.... I've won one battle today." Jackie smiled, and Charlie gave her a weird look when she put her arm around his shoulders and squeezed tight.  
  
By eleven ó clock, the school made its way down to the Quidditch pitch. Luckily it wasn't raining as it had been doing all week, although the weather was quite damp and big grey clouds covered the sky.  
  
The students were cheery, though, as they filed the seats around the pitch. Charlie heard Annie tell Joan, Lucy and Lindy that "My older brother plays Chaser, and he...." as he passed her, and a look at Jackie, who was rolling her eyes at him assured him that she'd heard it too.  
  
Charlie, Jackie and Barry found seats as close to the pitch as possible (and as long away from Annie as possible) and Madam Hooch's whistle announced that the game had begun.  
  
Lilly Marco, a fifth year Ravenclaw, was doing the commentatory for the game, and her loud, light voice echoed over their heads.  
  
"Mullins has the Quaffle - he's aiming for the goal.... GRYFFINDOR SCORES!" she announced ten minutes into the game, and Evan was applauded by the Gryffindor students. Fifteen minutes later, Ravenclaw scored, and Lilly's announcement sounded a great deal happier.  
  
"Moore passes to Webster, Webster passes back to Mo - no, McGregor catches it! Passes to Smellings......"  
  
Five minutes later, Ravenclaw scored again.  
  
"Perhaps the Gryffindor keeper ought to train a bit more." Lilly's voice sounded slightly amused.  
  
"Oh no!" exclaimed Annie from somewhere behind, "it's raining!"  
  
"Oh, help," Jackie mumbled sarcastically, but soon, the clouds opened their floodgates, and in a few minutes, everyone was soaking wet.  
  
The weather seemed to upgrade Gryffindor's luck though, and Lilly announced three goals in a row from them, making Gryffindor lead with 20 points.  
  
"Anyone seen the Snitch yet?" asked Dennis, and everyone shook their heads.  
  
"Not unless...." Charlie screwed up his eyes and soon he pointed to somewhere in front of him.  
  
"Charlie, I can't see a thing," said Jackie.  
  
"Lynch dives!" Lilly shouted as Gryffindor's Seeker, seventh year Aidan Lynch, zoomed downright to the place Charlie had been pointing moments earlier. Ravenclaw's Seeker tried to catch up on him, but too late; Lynch lifted his right hand to show the Snitch to everyone. Though it was raining, they could all see the great smile plastered on his lips.  
  
"GRYFFINDOR WINS!" Lilly announced.  
  
"Man, that Lynch is good!" Barry exclaimed as they walked towards the castle. It was still raining and they were looking forward to get inside and change into some dry clothes.  
  
"So I take you like it, then?" asked Charlie, and Barry nodded.  
  
"Yeah, are you crazy? It's the greatest game ever!" he said.  
  
"And that Lynch is good!" said Jackie. "The way he just zoomed right down to the Snitch, it was awesome!"  
  
"Well, you'll be happy to know he's Irish then," Charlie told her, and her face split in a grin.  
  
"He is? I thought so! Irish people are just better than others."  
  
"Blah blah blah," said Barry with a smile.  
  
"They say he'll be trying out for Seeker on the Irish National Quidditch Team," said Charlie, "it's his last year this year."  
  
"If he always plays like that, he'll get on for sure!" said Jackie.  
  
"Hey, you three," Dennis Lerey called at them. He, Max Teller and Daniel Jensen were running through the grounds towards them. "The match is over. Are you ready?"  
  
"Ready for what?" asked Jackie confused.  
  
"Our battle," explained Dennis.  
  
The three looked at each other, then at Dennis, Max and Daniel. They were all soaking wet. The grounds were as muddy as ever after the rain pouring all the past week, and it didn't look as though it would stop raining very soon.  
  
They all smiled.  
  
"Sure."  
  
A/N: Just wanted to say..... Carpe Diem. 


	10. Merry Christmas

A/N: I told you you'd get the Christmas chapter before Christmas! Oh, and I KNOW "The Night Before Christmas" is American, but I couldn't help it - I just love that poem.  
  
Chapter Nine  
  
MERRY CHRISTMAS  
  
It was getting close to Christmas, and coldness had begun sweeping up around the castle. People had dug out their winter cloaks and in the evening, they sat in front of the fire with a mug of hot chocolate. The winter had come.  
  
It was a morning in the beginning of December, when Jackie, Barry and Charlie came into the Great Hall a few minutes before mail arrived.  
  
Jill had a letter for Jackie, from her mum. Jackie opened it, read it and cried out, "No! She can't be serious!"  
  
"What is it?" Barry asked.  
  
"My parents and Fergusson, my big brother, want to celebrate Christmas in California, and they want me to come as well!" Jackie said, very upset.  
  
"So?" Barry said.  
  
"So? So? So, California is a hot place, and you can't celebrate Christmas there! Christmas is something you celebrate in Britain, with Christmas trees and Christmas carols and desperate hope for snow!" Jackie said aloud. "They can't make me go!"  
  
"Can't you just say that you don't wanna go?" Charlie asked while Barry read the letter.  
  
"Clearly, you don't know my mum," Jackie said, looking at him as though he had suggested that she dressed up in a pink frilly dress and performed a Tango on the Gryffindor table.  
  
"When she sets her mind to something, it's going to happen. And it'll probably be like that this time too."  
  
The two boys bent their heads, half in sympathy, half because they didn't know what to say.  
  
Then, suddenly, Charlie lifted his head with a big smile spread across his face.  
  
"I know!" he said, "We'll just owl my mum and ask if you can come and celebrate Christmas with me! I'm sure she'll say yes, and then all we have to do is ask your parents if it's alright!"  
  
"But what if they say no?" Jackie asked.  
  
"They won't. Come on, Jack, at least you can ask them!"  
  
"Yeah, I guess you're right. But shouldn't we ask your parents first?"  
  
"No, I'm sure Mum'll say yes," Charlie waved his hand impatiently.  
  
"But what about your dad?" Jackie then asked.  
  
"Oh, don't worry about him. If Mum says yes, he will too."  
  
"Does your mum decide everything?" Barry cut in.  
  
"Yes. But she does it in a way so my dad doesn't notice."  
  
And so, two owls were sent out with a letter. One for Mrs Weasley, asking if Jackie could come and stay for Christmas, and one for Mrs Larkin, asking if it was all right.  
  
The owls returned a couple of days later. Mrs Weasley wrote that of course Jackie could come, and Mrs Larkin wrote, that if it was okay with Charlie's parents, then Jackie could go.  
  
After reading her mum's letter, Jackie looked up at Charlie, grinning from ear to ear.  
  
"We're gonna celebrate Christmas together!" she exclaimed.  
  
"Yeah! I can't wait - my younger siblings are SO gonna love you!" Charlie told her as they clapped a high five.  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
"Well, they love me, right? And this Christmas, they aren't only gonna have me, they're gonna have the whole Crazy Couple! Lucky bastards!"  
  
"Yeah, now I wish I could celebrate Christmas with The Crazy Couple.. But wait, I can! We're gonna celebrate Christmas together!!" Jackie broke into laughter and the two friends clapped a high five again.  
  
A little longer down the table, Bill looked at them and sighed, asking himself what he had done to deserve a Christmas with The Crazy Couple.  
  
***  
  
The Hogwarts Express arrived at King's Cross full of students going home for the holidays, among them Jackie, Barry and Charlie.  
  
Mr Weasley had come to pick up Bill, Charlie, Jackie, Evan and Annie, seeing as Evan and Annie lived so close to the Weasleys. Mrs Weasley had stayed home with the younger ones.  
  
Arriving at The Burrow after letting off Evan and Annie at their home, children's voices were heard from inside.  
  
"They're here! They're here!" The door burst open, and out came Erec, closely followed by Percy and then the twins. Mrs Weasley, too, emerged with Ron on her hip.  
  
"He had just fallen asleep!" she said, but couldn't help but smile at seeing her big children again. Handing Ron to her husband, she hugged Bill, Charlie and then Jackie as well, welcoming her to the Burrow.  
  
"It's so nice to see you, Mrs Weasley, thanks a lot for letting me stay here for Christmas!" Jackie said, and Mrs Weasley found her sweet and polite.  
  
"Come, Jack, I'll show you my room!" Charlie said and ran to the front door. Jackie followed him up the stairs and he pushed a door open. A door with a sign saying William's room, and one underneath saying ChARLiEs RoOM. They entered a room with two beds, although Jackie had no problems telling who slept where.  
  
One of the beds had a blue bedspread and a poster on the wall above, featuring a blond wizard, dressed in black and obviously singing, in front of a band. The words "The Wicked Wizards" were written in big letters at the bottom.  
  
The other bed had a green bedspread emblazoned with - what else? - dragons. There were posters on the wall featuring dragons, as well as some with the Montrose Magpies, Charlie's Quidditch team. But none of this withdrew Charlie's attention - something else did, however.  
  
"My precious little star! Did you miss me? Don't worry, next year you can come with me. I've missed you a lot, yes I have," he cooed, and Jackie wondered whether she should run out screaming or stay and ask.  
  
She chose the latter.  
  
"Charlie. you do realise that's a broomstick, right?" she said, eyeing the door in case it would be necessary to run anyway.  
  
"'Course I do. What else would I talk like this to?" he asked, looking at her like she was the one gone mad.  
  
"I know she's just a Shooting Star and that's not the fastest or best broom you can get, but she's the only one I've got and I love her," he explained.  
  
"Her?" Jackie just said. Then her eyes fell on something on the bed.  
  
"Charlie - what's that?" she asked. He looked in her direction.  
  
"Ah," he said, "That's Ben." Ben was a red, stuffed dragon who sat on the middle of Charlie's bed.  
  
"Ben's almost part of the family," a familiar voice said, and Charlie and Jackie turned around. Bill had entered the room.  
  
"He's been involved in most of Charlie's doings and he's been blamed for quite a lot of them, too. I'll bet you've missed him since August, haven't you?" Bill asked, smirking at Charlie, who shook his head.  
  
"'Course I haven't. Why would I miss him?" But Bill had turned to Jackie.  
  
"He had a big discussion with himself about whether or not to bring Ben to Hogwarts," he told her.  
  
"No, I didn't! Why would I want to bring him to Hogwarts? He's just an old stuffed animal," Charlie said.  
  
"Sure," Bill answered, rolling his eyes. Before Charlie had time to answer, Mrs Weasley called from downstairs that supper was ready, and the three emerged from the room. A moment later, however, Charlie came back.  
  
"It's okay, pal," he said in a whisper to the stuffed figure on the bed, "I still love you."  
  
Then he exited in a hurry, slid down the banisters and reached the kitchen before Bill and Jackie.  
  
And even though it's very hard to read the face expressions on stuffed animals, I daresay Ben was smiling.  
  
The days went by, and it turned out that Charlie had been right; the younger ones loved Jackie. And if the rumours were right, Erec had told Percy that he wanted to marry her when he grew up. The twins had had quite some trouble in the beginning, trying to figure out if she was a boy or a girl, but now they had come to the conclusion that it didn't matter - she was fun anyway.  
  
Soon, it was the night before - oh, shush! Mrs Weasley's reading;  
  
"'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house  
  
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.  
  
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,  
  
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there -"  
  
"SH!" Erec exclaimed, "I think I heard something!" Everyone in the Burrow's living room were quiet for a moment.  
  
"Nah, it was nothing. Read on, Mummy," Erec said, sitting down comfortably again.  
  
When she had finished the old poem some time later, everyone went to bed. Jackie slept in Bill and Charlie's room.  
  
The next morning, Charlie was as usual the first to wake up. He rolled out of bed and shook Jackie awake. Remembering what day it was, she wasn't hard to get up. The two friends took a look at each other.  
  
"Should we - ?" Jackie whispered. Charlie smiled.  
  
"YAAAAH!" they cried in unison as they jumped onto Bill's bed and almost scared him to death.  
  
"You two are such little twits!" Bill shouted in a voice that sounded angry, but really wasn't. After all, it was Christmas.  
  
"Aww, come on, Billy, it's Christmas!" Charlie said and flung his arms around his big brother.  
  
"All right, I don't know what's gotten into you, but would you please remove your arms from my neck and get out of my bed before - ARG!" Charlie had pushed Bill out of the bed, and since he himself was clinging to Bill's neck he had fallen out as well.  
  
"Umf! Charlie - do you have any - idea - how heavy you are?" Bill said. He would have shouted, but that was impossible with 72 pounds of little brother on top of him. Jackie was standing on the floor, looking at them and laughing.  
  
"Oh, I wish I had a camera," she said happily.  
  
"Be glad you don't," Bill said, pushing Charlie off him, "Because if you'd taken a picture of me there, I would have crammed that camera down your throat!" Jackie stopped laughing at the moment, but then - Bill's face broke into a smile.  
  
"You're not funny," he said, "But it's Christmas, and I guess I have to put up with this at least once a year."  
  
"Yeah, you do!" Charlie rose from the floor and jumped up onto Bill's back.  
  
"Ride me, Billy!" he shouted and laughed.  
  
"Forget it!" Bill turned around quickly enough for Charlie to fall off and began tickling him. Charlie laughed and screamed and laughed again and then, when everyone else was awake too, they walked downstairs.  
  
"Well, I must say - welcome to the Weasley family Christmas, Jackie," Bill said, giving her his funny lopsided smile.  
  
"Thank you. Oh, I love this place! . And my fringe's all floppy," Jackie informed him, streaking a hand through her hair in an attempt to make her fringe - which she hadn't bothered to gel this morning - stand up again. It didn't work.  
  
"Look!" Erec's voice sounded when they reached the living room. "I think there's a present for Jackie from Mummy! No one else begins with a J and the present's all jumperish," he said.  
  
"Jumperish?" Jackie laughed.  
  
"Open it and see if he's right," Bill told her. She tore open the green package and found -  
  
"Look what I said!" Erec exclaimed happily.  
  
"She's made you a Weasley-jumper!" Charlie shouted from somewhere underneath a pile of wrapping paper. "She's probably trying to make up for you not having the hair," he added, breaking the surface of the paper and looking at the bright red colour of the jumper. "Look, mine's green." He held up a jumper in a dark forest green.  
  
"Very clever," Bill said, nodding, "That way she doesn't have to worry too much about the grass stains."  
  
"Grass stains that I would get from what?" Charlie said, pointing out the window.  
  
"It's snowing!" Percy yelled, starting to jump up and down on the couch.  
  
"I'll bet they don't have that in California!" Jackie said as Erec joined Percy on the couch.  
  
"Percy! Erec! Get down! You know you're not allowed to do that!" Mrs Weasley had entered the living room. "What do you think your father would say if he saw you do that?"  
  
"I think he would say 'get down before Mummy sees you'!" Erec answered and everyone laughed.  
  
***  
  
Eating Christmas dinner with the Weasleys was quite amusing, Jackie found out. Normally, they were just her, her parents, Fergusson and her grandparents, and it was limited how much fun that could be. However, with seven Weasley children, two Weasley parents and two Weasley grandparents (Mr Weasley's parents was celebrating Christmas with his sister), everything was - well - chaos. Everyone talked at once and Jackie got the feeling that no one listened. Later she found out that they actually did listen. Apparently the Weasleys had developed a special ability to talk and listen at once. As Charlie explained to her: "If we can't do that, we'll never get to say anything".  
  
***  
  
After dinner, the Weasley brothers (except Ron, who was napping) and Jackie went outside to play in the snow. The yard was covered in about fifteen centimetres, and it was still snowing. Their snowball fight went on for quite a while, until Charlie threw a snowball at Jackie, who ducked and instead the snowball hit -  
  
"Annie! Evan! Hi!" Bill exclaimed, hurrying over to his friend.  
  
"Hi!" Annie said, giving Charlie a death glare and wiping snow from her eyes.  
  
"We figured you'd be outside", Evan said, "So we went up to say merry Christmas".  
  
"Thanks. And a merry Christmas to you too", Bill said, grinning at them.  
  
"Yeah, merry Christmas, Evan", Charlie cut in. "And Annie? Hope you break your leg."  
  
"Charlie!" Bill said. "It's Christmas! Can't you be nice just once in a whole year?"  
  
"To Annie? No." Charlie grinned and Bill sighed, Annie was mad and Evan tried not to laugh. In short, everything was like it used to be.  
  
***  
  
Christmas was over way too quickly, and it felt like only one day after they'd come, when Jackie and Charlie lay down to sleep the night before their return to Hogwarts.  
  
"Gonna be fun seeing Barry again," Charlie said, yawning.  
  
"Yeah," Jackie answered. "That's contagious!" she added and yawned too.  
  
"Sleep," Bill said from his own bed, and Jackie and Charlie fell quiet. For three seconds.  
  
"This has been a fun Christmas," Jackie said quietly.  
  
"I think so too," Charlie whispered. They sniggered, knowing Bill would soon be mad at them.  
  
"Do you think he can hear us?" Jackie whispered.  
  
"Billy?" Charlie tried, "Can you hear us?"  
  
"My name's Bill," Bill muttered.  
  
"Yup, he can hear us."  
  
"Just sleep, okay?" Bill muttered again.  
  
"We should go to sleep," Jackie whispered.  
  
"Okay then. Goodnight."  
  
"Goodnight Charlie."  
  
"Sleep well."  
  
"Sweet dreams."  
  
"See you tomorrow."  
  
"If you're lucky!" Bill's voice cut in, and quiet fell upon the room. Until Charlie began snoring and woke Jackie up again. Resolutely, she grabbed one of Bill's books and threw it in the head of her best friend. That woke Charlie up, which meant he stopped snoring, and Jackie could go back to sleep. 


End file.
